knowledgebase
{ marketing research }
By piet Levy//staff writer
Market Thyself
In rough economic times, research firms need to rethink
their own marketing strategies
By most accounts, successful marketing relies on standout research. The flip side of
that is successful research firms should be doing
standout marketing.
That’s especially the case now, with “budget cuts” being the latest business mantra. A
research firm’s effective marketing approach can
mean the difference between solid business and
missed opportunities.
Among a small sampling of Marketing News’
Honomichl 50 firm leaders, the strategies range
from standard ad buys and cross-promotional
tie-ins, to a full reliance on referrals and word of
mouth. But all of them agree that before marketing outward, they must look inward to ensure that
what they are offering will be valuable, and seemingly necessary, to potential clients.
“A firm that wants to market in a tough economy will be well advised to offer more strategic
advice than they have in the past,” says Laurence
Gold, who compiles the annual Honomichl lists
and is editor and publisher of the newsletter Inside
Research. “There’s not really an awful lot of companies giving lip service to this. They deliver a
summary of numbers from the data collection
operation, but that’s not really delivering value, at
least in terms of strategic advice.”
New York-based Hitwise, which was new to
the Honomichl 50 in 2008, seeks to offer clients
T
OU
ND
STA EARCH
RES
marketing research//kb
Cost
26.AMA.KB.02.28.09.v3.indd 26
Return
the meaning behind its numbers, says Marc
Johnson, the firm’s CMO.
“It’s a mistake to get caught up in research for
research’s sake or data for data’s sake,” he says. “If
your product does not actually help generate revenue or clearly demonstrate the return, it is going
to be at the top of the list that the CMO is going to
come in and cut.”
The company endeavors to deliver the meaning behind the numbers through its analysts and
thought leaders and uses them as marketing tools.
Analysts contribute to blogs accessible via the
Hitwise home page and Bill Tancer, the firm’s general manager for global research, recently wrote a
book that leverages Hitwise data. The book, Click:
What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why
It Matters, boosted Tancer’s profile and landed him
appearances on TV and in other media. Hitwise
promotes the book and Tancer on its home page.
The company also has made a few adjustments to its marketing tactics based on the
economy. Since mid-2008, the firm has been
adjusting its marketing imagery to better reflect
the mood of the marketplace. For example, an
image of a lighthouse on a stormy night was
recently the focal image point of the Web site,
the analogy being that Hitwise is the firm to
guide marketers through the storm.
The recession also has prompted New York-
Strategy
THE
RESEARCH
MARKETING
FORMULA
UT
DO G
N
STA KETIN
R
MA
marketingnews 02.28.09
26
Value
based GfK Custom Research North America
to reassess which marketing tactics are most
cost-effective, says Liz Nolley, vice president of
marketing communications.
“You can’t sit back and think your name or big
brand will get you in the door and keep you there,”
Nolley says. “A lot of firms, instead of pushing one
product or one service, are trying to make one
size fit all. We take a more complicated approach.
We listen to clients [and] make sure we understand their business, and our research helps them
to make the best decisions that positively impact
their bottom line.”
GfK experimented with marketing tactics that reached a broader audience in better
economic times, but its approach this year is
targeted to meet immediate financial needs.
Expected measures being implemented for 2009
include customized direct e-mail campaigns,
strategic appearances at trade shows and advertising in specialized publications. GfK leaders
will also be aggressively promoted for speaking
engagements, Nolley says. The firm will be surveying clients to measure its progress.
Two other Honomichl-listed firms, The
Link Group and OTX Research, rely on a triedand-true equation to generate business: Good,
insightful work equals good word of mouth equals
strong business.
“Your reputation should speak for itself. The
best calling card is the work that you do,” says
Shelley Zalis, CEO of Los Angeles-based OTX
Research. The firm, which caters to the entertainment industry, uses its marketing department
primarily to coordinate speaking events, study
releases and interview requests from the media.
Its reputation in the online research space, Zalis
says, has been built upon outside-the-box thinking, a resistance to the status quo and intense
involvement with clients, which help OTX better
understand clients’ challenges.
The Link Group also focuses on client satisfaction. “We just literally have a mantra internally of
nailing the customer service,” says Link Group cofounder Brad Camrud.
In line with its customer-focused business
model, the company strives to match client deadlines and doesn’t financially penalize clients if they
want to change directions on work that has already
been commissioned. The Link Group also plays up
its staff size. At 42 employees, the Atlanta-based
firm is large enough to handle many kinds of commissioned research but is small enough to be agile,
flexible and fast—assets it makes sure to emphasize to potential clients.
Similarly, Camrud says his firm aims to offer
strategic insight alongside its numbers and figures.
Gold agrees that’s a good incentive for corporate clients seeking the most beneficial research,
but such an approach can be expensive for a market research firm. If a firm can’t afford to invest in
improving its service, it should consider reducing prices.
“Or you can just hold on,” Gold says. “But
these are strange times.” m
1/29/09 11:54:31 AM